Slow Down and Enjoy the Art, Singapore

Commuters look at a board displaying the Circle Line’s route in front of an art installation at the Haw Par Villa station.

Commuters traveling on Singapore’s newest Mass Rapit Transit underground train line will enjoy more than just shorter train journeys with hopefully a little more breathing room. The twelve newest stations on the new Circle Line, officially opened last Saturday, will also feature 12 artworks within the stations themselves – part of Singapore’s “Art in Transit” program.

Inspired by transit systems in cities like New York, Paris and London, Singapore’s government started the program in 1997 when the city-state’s then-new North-East Line was conceptualized. The Land Transport Authority, responsible for the design of MRT stations across the island, recognized “the value of art and its ability to humanize the often-hectic transit environment,” as stated in a press release in 2007.

The artworks resonate in Singapore, which for years has been described as a cold concrete jungle. The works may not be provocative or daring, but are designed to serve the purpose of “public art” – inspired as much by beauty as by “social renewal, civic pride, public enjoyment” and the “relationship between the art and local geography,” Mr. Kwok Kian Chow, Director of the Singapore Art Museum, said in 2008.

Advertisement

The “Art in Transit” program – footed by the LTA – is just one part of the government’s effort to pump significant amounts of money into the arts and encourage creative architecture and design efforts in the city-state. The cost of all the Circle Line artworks was $5.9 million – but that was only a fraction of the amount the government plans to spend on the arts in the future. The Straits Times reported just last month that the government would be raising the current spending on the arts by 50%, to $365 million a year for the next five years.

Four years ago, when designs for the new Circle Line MRT stations were being conceptualized, LTA organized a competition for promising artists to showcase their work as part of the overall design of the new train stations. Works were then selected from a panel including the director of the Singapore Art Museum and architect Raymond Woo.

The Circle Line runs through some of the most iconic and historic areas in Singapore – creating a unique challenge for the artists to create works that exemplify the cultural, ethnic and historic nuances of the surrounding areas.

At the Pasir Panjang station, for example, the artwork features Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi, a war hero who led Singapore in the Battle of Pasir Panjang against the Japanese in 1942. Images of Singaporean actor Aaron Aziz, playing Lt. Adnan, are used to create a mock movie poster about the war hero. Injecting a bit of humor into an artwork about a grimmer period in Singapore’s history, the poster offers a tribute to Lt. Adnan’s bravery during the Japanese occupation in World War II.

“It makes me feel a little closer to Singapore,” said Andrew Carey, a tourist from Australia. “The display is a reminder that we went through the same horrors during the war.”

The tribute to Lt. Adnan was the work of Singaporean artist and filmmaker Ho Tzu Nyen, who represented Singapore at the 2011 Venice Biennale.

Not all the artworks featured at the new stations are meant to be quietly appreciated while commuters buzz about on their journey home. The Kent Ridge station features the “Poetry Mix-up,” a digital generator that forms a poem from text messages and displays it on a giant digital screen for all to view. People are encouraged to send a text message of at least three words to a number displayed on the screen, and a “poem” is created from a mix-up of the words.

Created not by artists, but by scientists at the National University of Singapore, a short walk from the station, the generator encourages people to communicate using art, and aims at reviving poetry in the digital world.

Commuters on a recent day were seen quietly sending their musings to a number displayed on the screen, with pockets of giggly teens writing messages aimed at embarrassing their friends. Max Seah, a 20-year-old student, was one such teen, sending a message that read: “Hi Kathy, Bye Kathy” to the generator in an attempt to provoke a reaction from his schoolmate Kathy, who was at the station with him.

“It’s an interesting idea,” said Mr. Seah. “It lets us have some fun while waiting for the train.”

About Southeast Asia Real Time

Indonesia Real Time provides analysis and insight into the region, which includes Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei. Contact the editors at SEAsia@wsj.com.

E-commerce sites and mobile apps are drawing on data they’ve collected from users to better understand how and when people shop during the Islamic holy month. Here’s a look at some of what they’ve discovered.

All that burning rubbish in Indonesia may be taking its toll, with nearly a quarter of people surveyed in a recent poll saying waste management was the most prominent environmental issue in the country.